


something in the shadows

by ronanlynchisneversleepingagain



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Multi, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, camilla gets the creeps, disembodied footsteps, general mayhem, ghost hunting (but like really bad ghost hunting), possible haunting, possibly influenced by author's binge of buzzfeed unsolved, spooky but like silly spooky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-07 18:55:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16859503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ronanlynchisneversleepingagain/pseuds/ronanlynchisneversleepingagain
Summary: It’s barely even been a week in Camilla's new apartment when the late night footsteps start up and that's just the beginning.





	something in the shadows

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EndoftheLine_36N79W](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EndoftheLine_36N79W/gifts).



> thank you to Pau and other mods for making this fest happen! 
> 
> thank you to Jayme for reading over my messy drafts and answering my incredibly specific questions about how scenes landed for her. & generally thank you to everyone else at The Saltshaker for being my fav online gang. 
> 
> finally, last but not least, to EndoftheLine_36N79W - I hope you enjoy this fic and thank you for the fun prompt! I had a lot of fun writing it!

It’s barely even been a week in her new apartment when the late night footsteps start up. At first, Camilla assumes there must be some sort of loft apartment above hers and that whoever was up there just didn’t respect normal human hours, but then one night, when she’s especially frustrated with the endless pacing, she gets up, determined to finally say something to her neighbor about it and realizes that the emergency staircase doesn’t even go to the floor above her and the elevator doesn’t either.  

The next day, she is standing in the middle of the carpeted common hallway of her building as she tries to follow the strange, ghostly footsteps when someone comes barreling through the elevator doors and nearly bowls her over. She jumps out of the way as the petite figure drops something and swears loudly. 

It is the swear that makes Camilla realize she knows her. 

"Larissa?" Camilla says. 

Larissa Duan blows a chunk of dark hair out of her face and looks like some mixture of annoyed and surprised as she looks back to where Camilla is standing, but then as recognition dawns on her face, she smiles. 

"Yooo," Larissa says. She is shuffling the canvas bags around her arms and Camilla reaches down to pick up the thing she had dropped - a large bunch of paintbrushes tied together with a tired scrunchie. "Collins! I totally did not recognize you, man. What are you doing in these parts?"

Larissa takes the paintbrushes back from Camilla and stuffs them back into a canvas bag, which Camilla now sees is paint-stained with a deep Merlot red that almost looks like a blood stain. 

"Just moved in," Camilla says. She waves at the door behind her and Larissa's eyes widen a bit.

"No way," Larissa says. "That's rad."

"Er, do you live here?" Camilla asks after a beat of awkward silence. 

Larissa looks at her blankly before she seems to realize what Camilla means. She looks down at her paint-stained bags and then laughs.

"Oh," Larissa says. "Not really. Actually, I'm working on a commission for this couple that just bought one of the units down the hall."

"That's… wow," Camilla says. "So weird. What a small world. I don't think I knew you were still in Boston. I actually kinda always thought you'd be one of the first to leave us all for New York."

Larissa winces and Camilla immediately feels as though she's stuck her foot in her mouth again.

"I just meant…oh, fuck, sorry," Camilla says. "That was a weird thing to say."

"Nah, it's cool," Larissa says with a shrug. "I'd love to get to NYC, but Shitty is still doing his law school thing and well…family, you know."

Camilla nods quickly. 

"Yeah, for sure," she says, although she's not really sure what it is she's agreeing to. She definitely hadn't known that Larissa and Shitty were dating, but maybe it had happened after they'd all graduated from Samwell? Larissa had dated a lot of women in college, but Camilla supposes that could change. It had for her after all. She dated men all through college until she finally had her gay epiphany and suddenly all the boring sex she'd had with men made so much more sense. 

She is still lost in this spiral of thought when Larissa clears her throat and gives Camilla a clear once-over.

"Um, were you on your way to the mailboxes or laundry or something?" Larissa finally asks and Camilla looks down at her pajama pants and slippers with a wide-eyed rush of embarrassment. 

"Um, no," Camilla says. She looks around the otherwise empty, wide hallway and bites her lip. "Actually, I was…well, this is going to sound ridiculous, but I keep hearing footsteps? I was trying to figure out where they could be coming from since, like, this is the top floor, I'm pretty sure."

Larissa gives her a look that Camilla doesn't know how to translate.

"I think I might be going a little insane," Camilla admits. 

"Are you sure there's no one above us?" Larissa asks. Her head is tilted to the side as she casts her eyes upwards to the ceiling.

"The fire escape ends at my window," Camilla says. "And both staircases only lead up to the roof, which is locked, obviously, so it's not like anyone is just going up there to pace or anything. I even asked the landlord if anyone had been up there doing maintenance and they said no."

"Spooky," Larissa says. There is no trace of irony in her voice and Camilla's shoulders relax a little bit.

"Yeah," she agrees tentatively. "I know it's probably nothing, but…it's just kind of freaking me out, I guess."

Larissa scratches her head, still looking up at the ceiling of the hallway. 

"Do you wanna, like, hang with me for a bit until you feel better?" Larissa says finally.

"Oh, do you think the people you're painting for would mind?"

"Nah, they haven't actually moved in yet," Larissa says. "It's just me and the paint. And no weird footsteps."

Camilla snorted. 

"Actually, dude, I don't really know if there are or not because I usually have my headphones on."

Camilla glances back to her door and then nods to Larissa. 

"Yeah, okay, that would be kinda great," Camilla says. "I think maybe I'm just not used to living alone yet? So, maybe I just need to chill for a minute with someone else."

Larissa nods and holds out a fist for Camilla to bump. Camilla meets her fist with her own with as much grace as she can, but Larissa doesn't seem to notice the slight hesitation. She turns and waves over her shoulder for Camilla to follow her instead, leading the way to the unit at the end of the hallway and unlocking it while somehow juggling her many bags in her hands at the same time. 

Larissa isn't particularly chatty once they're inside the apartment. She goes about setting up her paints and brushes on a drop cloth placed in front of a wall that had a light blue coat of paint already applied. Camilla is content to watch and wander around the apartment that is mostly like her own except for some much more updated appliances in the kitchen and a few pieces of furniture that had been covered with clean, white drop cloths. A few other walls in other rooms have base coats of paint as if they too are waiting for Larissa to come along and finish them. As Camilla winds her way slowly through the two bedrooms, she finally stumbles on a finished wall - a stunning swirl of red and purple that almost looks like a night sky but in foreign colors. It's beautiful - a strange, pulsing energy about it that makes Camilla feel a little unmoored. She is about to turn around and call down the hallway to Larissa about it when she hears a thump, thump, thump above her head and her heart jumps into her throat. She freezes in the empty bedroom and just listens for a moment, but the heavy, rhythmic thumps continue. 

Camilla is so intent on listening that she doesn't notice Larissa coming into the room behind her and when Larissa speaks, she jumps so hard she nearly loses her balance and misses what Larissa actually says altogether. 

"Dude, you okay?" Larissa asks, her eyes wide. 

"Oh God, you scared the fuck out of me," Camilla says. She tries to shake out her shoulders in an attempt to recover, but she feels jittery all over. "Sorry."

Larissa holds up both hands and shrugs at Camilla.

"No big," Larissa says. "You want a joint? You look like you could use it. We can't really smoke inside, but the patio's probably cool."

Camilla exhales loudly. She almost says yes, and desperately wants to, but she knows she can't. League rules. 

"Can't," she says, sounding more terse than intended. "They do drug panels before every match these days."

"Fuck, dude," Larissa says. "That blows."

"Yeah."

Thump, thump, thump.

Camilla's eyes slowly float to the ceiling and then quickly flick over to Larissa, who has cocked her head to the side, clearly listening.

"Huh," Larissa says and then is quiet for a long minute while they both listen together.

"You hear them?" Camilla finally asks, even though she can tell by Larissa's expression that she can. Camilla just needs to hear someone else verbally confirm that she's not going insane. 

"That's wild," Larissa says. 

Camilla relaxes.

"God, I'm so glad you were here to witness this. Now when I call my mom, I don't have to tell her I might need to be committed or something."

Larissa barks a laugh and then punches Camilla gently on her arm before heading back down the hallway. 

"You wanna help me paint?"

"Uh, are you sure you want me to help?"

"Don't worry, it's just base coat for right now. You can't fuck it up, promise. I used to let Holster do it."

Camilla takes one more look at the ceiling of the empty bedroom and shakes herself again for good measure before following Larissa back into the living room where she was waiting with a paint roller and some soft eggshell white paint. 

 

\----------------------------------------------

 

Larissa knocks on her door two days later in the late afternoon. This time she's wearing paint-stained overalls with a Samwell tank top underneath and the first thing Camilla notices is how slim and toned her arms are. Camilla swallows hard and gives her best smile to Larissa.

"Hey, dude," Larissa says. "I just wanted to see if you were interested in coming out to a party tonight."

It takes Camilla second to understand the question because she's busy admiring the way the overalls cling to Larissa's body.

"A party?" she repeats dumbly. 

"Yeah, a party," Larissa says with a grin. "Some of the old Samwell crew will be there. Maybe Shitty's law school friends. Not sure."

"Oh, um, yeah," Camilla says. "I can swing that."

"Sweet," Larissa says. "Can I just text you the address?"

Camilla nods hurriedly, her eyes bulging a bit. 

"Yes, of course, yeah," she says. 

Larissa pulls out her phone from where it had been apparently tucked into her bralette and Camilla dies a little inside from the brief peak of a purple bra strap. She somehow recites her number to Larissa and bids her goodbye without really even realizing it until the door is closed and she slumps against it.

"Shit," she says out loud to herself. "What the fuck am I supposed to wear?"

 

\----------------------------------------------

  
  


“Camilla Collins,” Shitty Knight says. He grins wolfishly at her from where he hovers over the large trash bin full of what Camilla could only guess was some sort of radioactive punch he has concocted. He used to be famous for it back in undergrad and Camilla guesses that sort of gift probably shouldn’t be put to waste just because he’s graduated. She returns the smile. 

“Hey, Shitty,” she says and then winces a little. “Uh, sorry, do you still go by that?”

“Yeah, dude,” he says. “As much as I can. I’m in year three of law school, so I’m surrounded by a bunch of uptight wankers all day who insist on ‘Knight’, but it’s always a relief to see a fellow Wellie.”

“Yeah,” Camilla agrees. “I was kinda psyched to see Larissa at my building the other day. Like, what a freaking coincidence, you know?”

Camilla doesn’t mention the whole freaking out over footsteps thing that had led her to finding out that Larissa was working down the hallway. That’s (hopefully) just between the two of them. Larissa had sworn up and down she would never tell. Shitty just hums and offers Camilla a solo cup filled with his punch with no mention of ghosts. Camilla takes it reluctantly and hazards a perfunctory sip. Yep, still just as vile as it was three years ago. 

“So, what are you up to these days?” Shitty asks as the party mills around them. Occasionally, as someone drifts in closer, he holds a new cup out to them and people take them without ever seeming to even notice that they’re doing it. 

“Oh you know, still mostly tennis,” Camilla says. “I’ll start my season soon, so right now it’s mostly conditioning and working on my game.”

“Righteous,” Shitty says. “Jack and I totally watched you at the Bellmonte Slam last year. You fucking rocked it, dude.”

“You did?” Camilla asks, surprised. “I didn’t know that.”

“Yeah,” Shitty says. “I think Jack catches as many of your matches as he can, to be honest. Even got Bitty into it.”

Camilla grins into her cup, momentarily overcome with the warm feeling that gave her to know Jack kept tabs on her in the same way she kept tabs on him. 

“That’s...kind of great to hear,” Camilla admits. “Honestly, it’s been kind of lonely post-Samwell. I watch a lot of his games too even though we never talk much. I don’t know - it’s just good to know he’s doing so well and that if I ever needed a buddy to complain about my trainer with or having too many matches on the road, I could call him up.”

“Totally, totally,” Shitty says. 

Shitty abandons his post at the tub of punch and waves her up the stairs. She follows behind him into a bedroom as he rifles through a desk drawer and pulls out some rolling paper. She watches him roll a spliff and light it with efficient precision.

“Did you know he and Bits kept their whole thing a secret from all of us  _ for months _ ? Totally fucking hoodwinked us, dude! Then they finally confessed they’d been seeing each other and everything made so much fucking sense all of a sudden.”

Shitty’s body language suddenly becomes tense despite the multiple drags he'd taken.

“Fuck, sorry,” he says, sounding genuinely shamed. “I am total fucking ass talking about Jack and Bitty to Jack’s literal ex-girlfriend. Jesus, fuck, sorry.”

“Ha,” Camilla says in surprise, then blushes. She takes a big gulp of her drink to cover it up, hoping it would just pass for a drunken flush. “It’s uh...not a big deal?” she says, then with a deep breath plunges on. “I guess I always figured that if Jack Zimmermann’s dick wasn’t enough for me to be interested in dudes, then nothing would ever really do it?”

Shitty is silent for a second before almost howling with laughter, slapping his knee.

“Bro,” he says, clapping her on the shoulder and pulling her into a side hug. “You don’t even know how many times I have had that exact thought. It’s a fucking tragedy.”

Camilla laughs too, off-guard and feeling suddenly silly. 

“It is,” she agrees and tips her cup to cheers him before taking a seat next to him where he had collapsed backwards onto the bed. “But, I think it worked out for him too.”

“God, yeah, it did,” Shitty says. “I love those beautiful fuckers.”

Shitty takes a deep inhale from the spliff and then while holding the smoke in his mouth, tries to pass the small nub to Camilla. She refuses it by gently pushing it back to his chest.

“Can’t,” she says apologetically. “They drug test us all the time.”

“Fuck, dude,” Shitty says, shaking his head. “Sucks.”

“Yep.”

“I think Lardo really likes you, you know,” Shitty says after a few minutes of sitting together in relative quiet as the music thumped the walls around them.

"She's pretty rad," Camilla says. 

Shitty hums and Camilla relaxes against the wall, playing with the lip of her solo cup idly.

"So, like, you can totally take it or leave it, bro, but you should ask her out," Shitty says. He is giving her a calculating look when Camilla starts in surprise. She blushes and looks down to her cup, but then as the words fully process, she looks back up at him, confused. 

“I thought you two were like, together,” Camilla sys, letting her head loll to the side. Shitty patted her hair companionably.

“We are,” he confirms. “But not, like, exclusively. Never have been.”

“Oh,” Camilla says, feeling a little dumbstruck by the thought. “So...are you like...wingmanning for your girlfriend right now?”

Shitty laughs and slides down until he was almost laying down horizontally on the bed.

“Yeah, I guess I am."

“Huh." 

Shitty is quiet again for a long stretch of time and Camilla almost thought he’d gone to sleep from the way he slumps beside her. 

“I’m just saying, no harm, no foul if you were interested in her too,” Shitty said. “Like, that’s totally chill with me. And I'm pretty sure she'd be into it.”

"I'll take it under advisement," Camilla says and pats his arm before standing up and straightening her clothes out. 

"You leaving me?" Shitty asks. 

"Yeah, gonna get some air," she says. "Wanna come?"

"Nah, bro," Shitty says, waving her off. "I'm fucking blasted for the night. Law school's made me a fucking lightweight."

Camilla snorts, but doesn't disagree even though she'd personally seen him drink about five beers plus at least two spliffs which was hardly lightweight territory for anyone except maybe Shitty. She pauses in the doorway and knocks gently on the frame in thought.

"Good to see you," she says finally instead of the hundreds of other questions she want to ask him instead about his relationship with Larissa. She doesn't need to go all middle-school crush on her crush's boyfriend just because he had, like, given her some weird mandate of approval to date Larissa. 

 

\----------------------------------------------

  
  
  


"Therese," Camilla says as her longtime doubles partner, Therese, is still occupied with changing clothes. Camilla sits on the bench between them, twisting her racket in her hands. "Did you and Josh ever consider an open relationship?"

Therese is silent for a long moment and when Camilla looks behind her to see what's wrong, Therese is staring back at her.

"Excuse me?" 

"I just…did you ever talk about it at all?"

"Uhhh, no," Therese says. "Not at all."

Camilla blushes and looks back at her racket. She purses her lips in thought. A moment later, Therese joins her, swinging both legs over the bench so she's sitting next to Camilla, and bumps her shoulder. 

"I didn't know you were dating again," Therese says. 

"I'm not!" Camilla says hastily, nearly dropping her racket. "I mean, not really."

Therese raises a single, perfectly manicured brow at her.

"I just…" Camilla says. "There's this girl - I actually know her from Samwell - and if I were dating again, I think…I don't know, that I'd like to date her."

"Okay," Therese says, nodding slowly. "So far I'm not seeing the connection to open relationships, but please continue."

"She has a boyfriend," Camilla says. 

"Like she's straight or—?" 

"No," Camilla interrupts. "I know she isn't."

Camilla blushes again. She regrets bringing this up at all with Therese but now it is too late to back out of the conversation. 

"Okay, wait, slow down," Therese says. "This girl has a boyfriend, but she isn't straight?"

Camilla rolls her eyes and Therese holds up both of her hands in concession. 

"She's not straight," Camilla says again, more firmly. "I know for a fact she's hooked up with women and she even dated one way back in freshman year for a few months before she studied abroad. Actually, I didn't even know she was into men too, if I'm honest, because I only ever knew her to hook up with women. But I mean, it makes sense when you know who it is she's dating, I guess? They were always close."

"So, are you like the homewrecker in this sitch who's going to insist she open her relationship or did the dude come on to you? What's up?"

"Oh my God, Therese," Camilla says. " _ No _ . Neither."

Therese nods as if she doesn't fully believe Camilla and Camilla rolls her eyes before throwing a self-conscious look around the still empty locker room. 

"So, she invited me to a party at her place and her boyfriend was there, right?" Camilla explains. "And he kind of — well actually, not kind of — he did tell me that they weren't exclusive and that if I was interested, I should ask her out."

"Woah," Therese says. Her dark brown eyes are so wide that Camilla can see the whites of her eyes against her brown skin. "That's kinda…weird. That's weird, right?"

"I don't know!" Camilla says. "I've never really known anyone who wasn't exclusive?"

Therese nods more slowly this time.

"Okay," she says. "Okay."

"So, do you think I should?"

Therese considers the question and purses her lips as Camilla waits. 

"Do you have to date this boyfriend too?" Therese asks. "I thought you'd decided men were not really your bag after all."

Camilla wrinkles her nose and laughs.

"No," she says. "That's not how it works. I would just be dating her and she would be dating him, too."

Therese hums thoughtfully and goes back to pursing her lips. 

"Well, you like this woman, right?" Therese asks and Camilla nods. "And maybe it's not conventional or anything, but if you're all honest about it and it works for you, then why not? Do you think you're gonna be okay with her splitting her time like that though?"

"I mean," Camilla says. She's twisting her racket around in hands again. "I travel a lot for matches and he's in law school, so I think we all have busy schedules."

Therese  _ tsks _ softly.

"Camilla, hun, I know I shouldn't even think it, but our tennis playing days are numbered and law school's not permanent either," she says. "What happens when you don't have those things anymore?"

Camilla sighs heavily.

"I haven't even asked her out yet," Camilla pouts a little.

"Well," Therese says. patting Camilla's knee. "I just want you to be careful before jumping headfirst into the unknown."

"I know," Camilla sighs. "Thanks, T."

"You haven't told your mother about this yet, have you?"

"God, no. She still asks if I'm bringing home a  _ gentleman  _ for Christmas every year, like I'll change my mind about the lesbian thing. I will only tell her about this after I've been married to the girl for like 5 years and possibly have children. That's the only thing that will soften this for her."

Therese laughs but it ends with a sort of breathy, exasperated sigh that Camilla can fully relate to. 

"Sorry," Therese says and leans her head on Camilla's shoulder. Camilla lets her head fall against Therese's and takes a deep breath before letting it out slowly. 

"S'okay," Camilla says. "Just one of those things."

Therese's hand, still on Camilla's knee, tightens for just a moment before she lets go. 

"It shouldn't be."

"Yeah."

"Let's go get some ice cream and you can tell me more about your future wife."

Camilla groans but when Therese stands and offers her a hand, she takes it.

 

\----------------------------------------------

  
  


<< if i told you that a bunch of glasses in my kitchen just threw themselves off the shelf and shattered everywhere, would you think i was crazy?

>> yes. 

>> but also, dude, wtf.  in front of you?

<< no :( i was in the bedroom.

<< i politely asked my landlord about possible weird noises without saying the word 'haunted' and he was cagey. 

>> huh. i wanna ask the benioffs now if they heard anything when they were buying.

<< is that the couple commissioning you? omg don't.

>> ransom used to think the haus was haunted. 

<< :eyes:

>> i'm gonna ask him what he thinks you should do. 

  
  


\----------------------------------------------

  
  


Larissa shows up without warning an hour later, carrying a six pack of beer and a bag full of convenience store snacks. Camilla is pretty sure she's never seen anyone more appealing than Larissa in that exact moment - hair wild and oversized, paint-splattered hoodie and all. She gratefully opens her door wide and Larissa comes in. It's only after Larissa glides straight into the living room and sets down her offerings on the coffee table that Camilla realizes what a mess the place is. There is a nest of blankets on one side of the couch and several pairs of shoes scattered across the floor in random places. A sweater hangs over the back of the couch and there are two empty glasses already on the table. Larissa doesn't seem to notice or care.

"Sorry about the mess," Camilla says anyway.

Larissa looks up from where she is spreading out candy and chip bags across the table and her forehead scrunches up adorably as her eyes cast about.

"Dude, is this really what you call a mess?"

Camilla picks up the sweater from the back of the couch and hugs it to her chest before folding it over and setting on one of the dining room chair cushions. 

"I'm usually a little neater than this."

"I lived in frat house with four dudes for a year and managed even more of them for most of college. This is like…immaculate, Collins."

"Camilla," Camilla says gently. "Only coaches and refs call me Collins."

"Camilla it is," Larissa says. "So tell me more about this ghost that keeps opening cabinets."

Camilla groans and collapses on the couch, covering her face with her arm.

"I was in the bedroom putting away laundry and…oh my God, this is so dumb," Camilla says. She can't bring herself to look at Larissa, but the couch beside her dips and Larissa's cool hand on her arm makes her jump a little.

"Hey, it's so not dumb," Larissa says. "I heard whatever it was the other day, too."

Camilla relaxes a little and Larissa doesn't move her hand away.

"It's just…I was in the bedroom when it happened. I was folding laundry and then I just heard this crash and I went out to see what happened and the glass was everywhere. And there's no one here except me and it's not like there was some earthquake or something that only happened in the kitchen. I even checked to see if the shelf had come loose but everything is still the same. I'm kind of freaking out."

"Okay," Larissa says. She has the same wide-eyed expression that she'd had the other day when she had first heard the footsteps. "Wow. That's a lot.'

She drifts towards the kitchen and Camilla gets up from the couch and follows her at a distance. The shoebox that Camilla had brushed all of the broken glass into was still sitting on the floor at the foot of the stove. Larissa pokes at with her foot dubiously.

"Jeez, it really took out all your cups, huh?"

Camilla breathed a laugh.

"Maybe it's like, a ghost of a really mean cat," Larissa says and her voice is serious but when she looks back to Camilla, her dark eyes are dancing with humor.

"Haha," Camilla says drily, but can't help the small twitch of a smile of her own face. Larissa shrugs.

"I consulted with Ransom while I was on the bus over here," Larissa says, turning around suddenly and unshouldering her bag. "He said and I quote that 'you should move the fuck out and stop fucking around with ghosts'."

Camilla snorts. 

"Holster said we should try doing an EVP session though," Larissa continues. 

"A what?" Camilla asks.

Larissa wrinkles her nose, adorably, and if they weren't talking about ghosts right then, Camilla would definitely be interested in possibly kissing it. 

"Dude, don't you watch ghost hunting shows? EVP," Larissa says, wiggling her fingers in a spooky gesture. 

Camilla shakes her head. 

"Electronic voice phenomenon," Larissa says. "It's, like, when you record yourself asking the ghost questions and then listen back to see if they say anything back."

Camilla is unable to repress the shudder that goes through her.

"The ghost  _ talks _ to you?" she asks in horror. Her eyes dart unbidden back to the kitchen and she rubs her arm where goosebumps have become to prickle. "I don't know if we should do that."

"Dude," Larissa says with a grin. "Camilla. Are you scared of talking to the ghost?"

Camilla feels her face heat up but tries to remain strong. 

"It is so not weird to be afraid of talking  _ to a ghost _ ," Camilla says. "It's weird to want to."

Larissa laughs and then flops down on the couch. Camilla joins her and their knees brush up against each other. Larissa doesn't move away but instead reaches forward and plucks two beer bottles from the six-pack she'd brought and hands one to Camilla after twisting the top off. 

"Okay, let's re-evaluate after a beer or two," she says. "I almost stopped and bought a ouija on the way over, but I figured we could just use our phones to do the EVP and get the ouija later."

Camilla makes a small noise that she tries to cover up with a long sip.

"A ouija board?" she finally croaks.

"Relax," Larissa says, patting Camilla's bare knee. "I didn't."

Camilla releases a breath and relaxes into the couch.

"Ok, good," she says. 

"Are you really scared of all this stuff?"

"Is it really that weird that I am?"

"No, I guess not. I just — I don't know, I always thought you were like, super tough and stuff."

Camilla laughs.

"Not really," she says. "Besides, why would you think I was tough?"

"Dude, I spent enough time at the athletic center to see you lifting weights and I know you ran the Boston Marathon last year cause Jack was super pumped about you qualifying."

Camilla blushes and hides her face a little.

"Yeah, well, that's just sports-stuff. It doesn't mean I'm tough in other ways."

"I don't know," Larissa says. "I just feel like anyone who can backhand a tennis ball that hard can totally talk to a ghost or two."

Camilla groans.

"Oh my God, I see what you're doing."

Larissa grins at her.

"Oh?"

"You're just trying to trick me into doing this by making me think I'm awesome or something."

"Is it working?"

Camilla grabs the throw pillow next to her and buries her face in it. 

"No,' she says into the pillow. Larissa shoves her gently.

"I think it is," Larissa says in the voice of someone who knows they've won. Her fingers dig into Camilla's side and tickle her there. Camilla squirms away and drops the pillow in the process, but Larissa is persistent and they both end up wrestling each other to the floor. Larissa is stronger than she looks, but is no real match for Camilla, who is in peak condition for tennis. Once Larissa concedes, Camilla rolls off of her and blows her stray hairs out of her face. 

"What kind of questions do you even ask a ghost?" she asks. 

Larissa doesn't sit up, but tosses her head to the side to look up at Camilla. 

"I don't know - like, what's your name and why are you here and all that jazz."

Camilla can feel her face twisting in disbelief but Larissa nudges her hip with a knee.

"We can do it, but only on one condition," Camilla says. "You have to stay here tonight because there's no way I'm sleeping here alone if we're talking to a ghost."

Larissa snorts, but nods.

"Yeah. dude, of course."

 

\----------------------------------------------

  
  


Camilla wakes up sometime in the early morning and for a moment, is so disoriented, she isn't sure where she is until Larissa stirs next to her and she remembers they're still on the couch. They had spent nearly two hours leaning into the mic on Larissa's phone and asking all sorts of questions that they and the internet thought of to ask with no response, as far as either of them could hear on the playback. Eventually, they had turned on the TV and given up on the ghost ever talking to them and they must have fallen asleep like that. 

Camilla turns off the TV and rolls her neck experimentally, looking around the dark room. She shifts herself carefully away from where Larissa had fallen asleep on her shoulder. It's chilly in the living room, colder than it normally is, and Camilla stands to reach for her sweatshirt before pulling it on and heading to her bedroom to grab a blanket, but then changing her mind, she turns back and instead lightly shakes Larissa awake. 

"Mmmf," Larissa makes an unintelligible sound.

"Hey, come on, my bed is big enough for both of us and this couch is the worst," Camilla whispers. 

Larissa blinks at her blearily and then exhales loudly through her nose before nodding and following Camilla down the hallway where she immediately collapses on Camilla's bed. She seems to be back asleep before Camilla even makes it to the other side of the bed and pulls the blanket up around their shoulders. 

Camilla isn't sure when she drifts off again, but is woken by a sharp kick to the shin. She groans and rolls over.

"Ow," she says, mostly into her pillow.

"Shh," Larissa whispers. "Do hear it?"

Camilla freezes, because yes, she very much does hear it. It's the same thump-thump-thump of pacing footsteps above them and then, just as suddenly as she'd heard them, they stopped. Larissa's eyes were wide and excited when Camilla found them in the dark. 

"Holy shit," Larissa says, but before she can continue, there's a bang from the direction of Camilla's kitchen that is undeniably a cabinet crashing shut. Camilla jumps at the sound and Larissa reaches out to her in the dark, her thumb stroking Camilla's wrist soothingly.

"I'm going out there," Larissa whispers.

"What?!"

"Just stay here, I'll be right back."

Before Camilla can stop her, Larissa slides out of bed and pads into the hallway. Camilla sits up in bed and stares after Larissa, but barely has time to consider following her out when she hears Larissa curse loudly and something crash to the ground in the kitchen. Camilla bolts out of bed and is in the hallway before she can think twice about it.

Larissa holds out an arm to stop her from coming into the kitchen and when Camilla looks at her face, expecting to see fear, instead she sees amusement writ large.

"Dude, I think I solved your ghost problem."

"What?"

Larissa lowers her arm and points into the dark kitchen. Camilla's heart stops as she sees the mess of oatmeal and coffee grounds on the floor….and a large animal that was staring back at her and Larissa, its nose twitching. It takes Camilla's sleepy brain a moment to identify it as a raccoon.

"What the fuck?"

Larissa had grabbed a broom when Camilla wasn't looking and approaches the raccoon with the wide end. 

"Shoo," she says. 

"Where the fuck is supposed to go?" Camilla whispers frantically, pulling at Larissa's elbow. Larissa shakes her off with a laugh.

"I don't know, wherever it got in."

"Holy shit."

Larissa pauses her shooing and grins at Camilla.

"Are you always this sweary when you wake up at 3am or is it just the raccoon?"

Camilla giggles nervously.

"Always, I think," she says and then the scrabbling of claws on the wood floor grabs both of their attention. Camilla turns back to the raccoon, but it was gone and a cabinet slams shut with a decided bang which makes both Camilla and Larissa jump. Larissa lunges forward and grabs the cabinet that had shut, yanking it open, but it's empty, to the bafflement of both of them. Then, with a wry twist of her mouth, Larissa points up and Camilla, to her horror, sees a small hole in the top of the cabinet that she's never noticed before. She gapes at it. 

"What in the world?" she says. 

"This is amazing," Larissa says. She pokes at the hole with the broom and Camilla just stares in horror at it. "What a sneaky little bastard. He's probably been living large up there for weeks."

Camilla doesn't reply because she can't quite process what is happening. 

"Camilla?" Larissa finally asks and Camilla realizes she had been asking her something.

"Sorry, what?"

"Did you have anything we can cover it up with for the night?" 

"Oh," Camilla says and turns around to her living room. She runs a hand through her hair and exhales. Her heart is racing and she can't quite wrap her mind around what is happening. She stares blankly into the dark living room. "Um, I'm not sure."

"Cardboard? Recycling or something?" Larissa prompts. Camilla tries to cover her start when Larissa's hand gently squeezes her side, but she thinks Larissa might notice anyways by the sympathetic wince of a smile she gives Camilla. 

"Um, there's some in the bin, I think," Camilla says after she's had another moment to gather herself. 

Larissa nods and once Camilla pulls the recycling bin out, she is going through it with a critical eye and has fashioned a serviceable covering for the hole in Camilla's cabinet in a matter of minutes. Camilla pulls out her toolkit and Larissa takes the hammer with a grin before clambering up on the counter and crouching there to install the covering in record time. 

"That should deter him for the night, at least," Larissa says, inspecting her work. 

Camilla collapses against the door jamb and swallows a few times.

"I can't even believe…" she starts, but then doesn't know how to finish the sentence. She just stares at the cabinet instead. Larissa is using the tape from Camilla's toolkit to fix a spatula through the handles to hold it closed. Camilla watches her in vague, but impressed disbelief. "You're a good person to have around in times of crisis," she says finally as Larissa jumps down from the counter and tests the cabinet. The doors barely budge even though she can tell Larissa is really trying to pry them open. 

"Too many years having to fix the hockey teams' equipment emergencies on the fly, probably," Larissa says with a shrug. She washes her hands in the sink while Camilla still stares at her handiwork on her cabinets. She turns back to Camilla and for the first time that night, suddenly looks awkward. "So…"

"Can I kiss you?" Camilla blurts out without thinking. 

Larissa seems just as shocked as she is and then bursts out laughing.

"Raccoon hunting really does it for you, eh?"

Camilla slaps a hand on her face and shakes her head.

"Oh my God, sorry, please ignore me," Camilla says. "I am just super loopy and keyed up and Shitty said something the other day at the house party that I keep thinking about and it's  _ nothing _ . Please pretend this didn't happen."

Larissa's hand is warm and soft when it slides up Camilla's arm and gently pries her hand away from her face. Larissa cups Camilla's hand in her own and holds it halfway between them, suspended. 

"What did Shitty say?"

"I —" Camilla starts, but cuts herself off by licking her lips and shaking her head. "It's…honestly, I'm pretty sure I just misunderstood and it's no big thing. Just ignore me."

Larissa sighs and lets Camilla's hand gently drift down to her side. 

"Sorry, sometimes, he gets kind of evangelical about the whole open relationship thing. I think he just wants to prove that he’s a good wingman but I know it’s a lot," Larissa says. Her eyes are a little squinty as she clearly searches for the right thing to say. "He means well, but like, I've told him a million times that not everyone is just gonna get it right off the bat."

Camilla nods as if she is fully processing what Larissa is saying, even though she really isn't. Larissa seems to see through her. 

"What did Shitty say?" Larissa repeats, this time with an air of faux casual that Camilla might have been fooled by a few weeks ago. 

"He, uh," Camila says and then takes a deep breath. "Maybe implied that you might be interested in dating. Me, I mean."

"Would you be into that?" 

"I….I mean, yeah," Camilla says. "Of course."

"It doesn't mean I'm breaking up with Shitty," Larissa says. "I'd still be dating him and you'd probably see a lot of him, to be honest."

"Right," Camilla says. "But I'd just dating you, right?" 

"Yeah," Larissa says and then smiles. "Just me."

"Okay, then. I think I'm game for that."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Larissa grins and for once it's a full, sincere smile with no trace of snark or teasing, just joy. Her face is in shadows in the dark kitchen, but Camilla can make out the sharp lines of her cheekbones and she reaches out to trace along Larissa's soft skin. Larissa leans into the touch and then drifts up on her toes and kisses Camilla softly. They stay there like that, trading soft kisses until a loud bang from above them cause them both to jump back. Camilla looks up at the ceiling with wide eyes. 

"I guess my ghost isn't much of a ghost," Camilla says with a small laugh.

Larissa presses a small kiss to the underside of Camilla's chin and then shrugs. 

"You never know," Larissa says. "Could be a raccoon  _ and _ a ghost."

Camilla groans but doesn't resist when Larissa nudges her for another kiss. 

 

\----------------------------------------------

  
  


"So, what did your landlord say?" Therese asks from her side as they whack at balls together two mornings later. Camilla huffs and cracks a ball wide of the court before resetting her stance and trying again.

"Not much aside from saying he'd send in pest control."

"What? That's bullshit," Therese says. "You should ask for rent credit or something."

"Honestly, as long as he gets rid of the damned thing, I don't care about rent."

"Camilla, please give me your landlord's number so I can yell at him on your behalf. What the fuck."

Therese backhands a ball so hard that it bounces off the far fence of the court.

"Nice," Camilla says, pausing for a drink from her bottle. The machine across them runs out of balls to hurl at them and makes a chugging sound as Therese walks over to turn it off for now. She leans against the fence afterwards and looks at Camilla in thought.

"So, what about this girl that helped you with the raccoon? She's the one you really like, right? The one with the boyfriend?"

"Yeah," Camilla sighs. "She is."

"So…"

"So…I don't know," Camilla says. She thinks of the way Larissa had kissed her, teasing and fun, and licks her lips. "We kissed."

Therese gasps.

"Excuse me, how could you not lead with that?" Therese asks.

"I just…I guess I'm not sure how to talk about it yet."

Therese's smile evaporates just like that.

"What do you mean?"

Camilla twists her racket around and starts kicking some of the balls at their feet towards the other end of the court where they'll pick them up. Therese lets her chew on her words and starts kicking alongside her.

"I don't know. It's a whole new thing, but we talked about it and we're going to give dating a real try."

"Nice," Therese says. "I'm proud of you, Collins. This is big."

"Yeah, well, we'll see how it goes, I guess, but I have a good feeling."

Camilla smiles down at her feet and she thinks her cheeks might be getting genuinely sore from how much she'd been smiling since Larissa had finally left her apartment that morning after spending two nights with Camilla - the first on the pretense of the ghost and the second because neither wanted to get out of bed and put clothes on until other obligations forced their hands. 

Therese throws an arm around Camilla's shoulders and ruffles her sweaty hair. Camilla jerks away, but doesn't actually escape Therese's grip.

"Camilla, my dearest friend and longtime pairs partner, you like this girl, I can tell, and if she's willing to go ghost-hunting and chase raccoons for you, I bet she really likes you too. It's a little unconventional, but you can totally make it work."

"When did you become Oprah?" Camilla grumbles.

"Ha!" Therese crows and then squeezes Camilla's shoulders tightly.  "Okay, also sidebar: did you say she was dating someone shitty? I thought you were cool with the guy? Because if you aren't cool with the guy, maybe don't date her because you'll probably have to hang out with him a lot too."

"Oh my God,  _ no _ ," Camilla laughs. "Definitely not what I said."

**Author's Note:**

> a true story: i once lived in an apartment that had a bat in the wall for over a month. it was an actual living nightmare. i did not have a cute girl around to help me get through it, but the fictional world is so much kinder.


End file.
